The fascinating thing about a prequel is that it can answer so many questions.

In the case of Caprica, there were many questions never answered by Battlestar Galactica, and it appears we are getting those explanations. Starting to, at least.

For one, why did the Cylons believe in one god rather than many?

Well, Zoe Graystone, who is both Adam and Eve for the Cylons, was a member of the Soldiers of the One, a monotheistic group who believed terror was the means to an end. And she was more than just an enthusiastic foot soldier, I believe.

The attachment her teacher had to her was extreme. And with the first “true” episode’s revelation that the teacher is in a plural marriage, her looking forward to a “new family” on Gemenon would seem to indicate that perhaps that was her future. Did she know it? That remains to be seen. (And if the second episode answers that, shut up. It isn’t available until four days after broadcast on Hulu.)

Interesting point there: the Zoe-bot is a trinity. She is Zoe, she is Zoe’s avatar and she is the robot. Three sides of one, just like the Holy Trinity. To me, it’s a fascinating point, because I never understood the idea of the Holy Trinity. One scene in Caprica and I’m all, “Oh, THAT’S what that’s about.”

Obviously, the entire religion will coalesce around this Zoe-bot and as the robots are treated worse and the Soldiers of the One are driven further underground, she will become somewhat of a Jesus figure, no?

Another question: Why, really, did Cylons rebel?

That question was never really too hard to suss out, it’s your basic slave rebellion scenario. But, still, it’s interesting to see its roots rather than the aftermath.

And to see difference in how people react to the initial soldier robot. The one guy who’s all into Zoe and calls her a she and is trying to teach her, rather than order her around. Then there’s the other one, who just sees Zoe as a big hunk o’ metal that should just shut up and do what it’s told.

Amazing, of course, how little is learned from the Cylon rebellion in human society, with Capricans still maintaining their elite status within the Colonies by the time BSG rolls around in the timeline.

What I like most about Caprica so far is how although it’s connected to BSG through the character of William Adams — and I love to see glimpses of how his nature was formed through the Yin and Yang of his father and uncle (did you realize that was his uncle?) — it does stand on its own.

All the other characters are new. Even Joseph Adama is new, as he was past tense in BSG. In addition, the Joseph Adama we knew of obviously grew out of this tragedy and does not exist at this point. He has not yet become the man who begat, albeit intellectually, Romo Lampkin.

If Caprica continues along this path, it will be a rarity among prequels: Something equal to, if not surpassing, the original (used loosely, as the BSG we’ve come to love is a sequel to the BSG we knew and loved, cheese and all, in the 1970s).